Sony Bank to Initiate Direct Account Debit for SAISON CARD Holders
August 2, 2007
Sony Bank Inc., an 88.0%-owned subsidiary of Sony Financial Holdings, today announced its August 6, 2007, start of a service that enables SAISON CARD holders to change their direct debit accounts to Sony Bank accounts, in an on-line, paperless transaction process. The SAISON CARD is issued by Credit Saison Co., Ltd.
After the introduction of this service, holders of SAISON CARD International and various other SAISON CARDs (excluding cards issued through tie-ups with other financial institutions) will be able to specify their ordinary yen deposit accounts at Sony Bank as the account for the direct debit of card usage fees. The convenient application process for setting up Sony Bank accounts for direct debit can be performed at any time over the Internet.
Credit Saison ranks among Japan's top credit card companies, with cards issued totaling 24,910,000 as of March 31, 2007. The company is also developing unique cardholder services, such as the SAISON Permanent Points program, whereby the points that cardholders accumulate when making card purchases never expire. Cardholders can later exchange these points for items of their choosing.
Sony Bank also issues the MONEYKit SAISON Card. Applications for this tie-up card can be submitted via the Sony Bank website (Japanese only) 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, in principle. Going forward, Sony Bank will continue to leverage its position as an Internet bank to develop settlement services among its highly convenient financial service offerings.
Note: This is an English-language summary of a Japanese announcement made by Sony Bank on August 2, 2007. The summary was prepared by Sony Financial Holdings Inc. solely for the convenience of non-Japanese readers.
